I mentioned in an earlier post that I was trying these applications to see how helpful they are. I have to admit, I’ve become dependent on them. I work on them daily and they’ve become my standard places to work on things.

Scrivener

Scrivener has become the place that I go to build the stuff I write. The more I learn about it, the better it’s become as a tool for me. I use it to manage writing projects by:

• collecting my research on the topic
• organizing my drafts as I work through them
• roughing what’s being written
• managing my references

I’ve modified my workflow now so that I usually work on something like this

FIRST - I start sketching out ideas in my Journal using mind maps, drawings, or any other way of feeling out the topic
SECOND - As soon as I’m ready to start looking ANYWHERE, online or off, I open a Scrivener project for the topic and start collecting information
THIRD - As I collect my material, I’ll start drafting parts of my piece, reorganizing as needed to find something that makes sense
FOURTH - When I have what I think of as a FINAL draft ready in Scrivener, I’ll export it to WORD and polish it. Most places I need to deliver things to want WORD format, so that becomes my final stop.

Scrivener is available from the Literature & Latte web site for $39.95.

MarsEdit

MarsEdit has become the way I manage my blogs. I find it very easy to use and more than capable enough to handle what I need to do. At least, I haven’t been limited by it except in handling comments. MarsEdit is only available at the MarsEdit web site for $29.95.

I’ve also experimented with Windows based editing tools for blogs inluding Blogdesk, BlogJet, and Windows Live. I know Microsoft’s entry gets a lot of good press, but I think I prefer Blogdesk at the moment.

Categories: General Thoughts, Tools